The actor born Donald Alan Diamond in Brooklyn, NY on this date in 1921 was in real life a rather nondescript individual…but that is precisely the quality you want when you’ve decided you want to ...
Happy Birthday, Portland Hoffa!(Post)It pains me to have to say this…but I have heard from many an old-time radio devotee that Portland Hoffa—born on this date in 1905—is an acquired taste. Her trademark high-pitched voice as husban ...
Happy Birthday, Gloria Blondell!(Post)If Gloria Blondell—born in Manhattan, NY on this date in 1910—ever resented living in the shadow of older sister Joan, she rarely displayed any outside bitterness. This is not to say that occasion ...
Happy Birthday, William N. Robson!(Post)Though September 30, 1962 is often acknowledged as the date when The Golden Age of Radio ended, director-producer-writer William N. Robson had a decidedly different take in an interview with Dick ...
Happy Birthday, Van Heflin!(Post)“Louis B. Mayer once looked at me and said, ‘You will never get the girl at the end,’” recalled actor Van Heflin once in an interview. “So I worked on my acting.” The man born Emmett Evan Heflin ...
Happy Birthday, Tony Barrett!(Post)An item in a November 1945 edition of Radio Mirror will give you an idea of just how busy the actor born Martin Lefkowitz on this date in New York City in 1916 was in the aural medium. As Tony Bar ...
Happy Birthday, Grace Matthews!(Post)Grace Matthews was a drama queen. Okay, that sounds a bit churlish, in light of what that bit of slang means nowadays—what I should emphasize is that the actress born in Toronto, Canada on this d ...
Happy Birthday, Barton Yarborough!(Post)Despite the fact that radio’s I Love a Mystery had closed up shop over CBS Radio on December 29, 1944, Columbia Pictures wanted to adapt the popular “blood-and-thunder” melodrama for the silver sc ...
Happy Birthday, Wyllis Cooper!(Post)Radio writer and playwright Arch Oboler once had these words of praise for the man he would eventually replace as the mind behind the mayhem that fueled the horror series Lights Out: “Radio drama ...
Happy Birthday, Morton Fine!(Post)Before embarking on a rewarding career as a radio, television and movie writer, Morton S. Fine—born a Christmas Eve baby in Baltimore, MD on this date in 1916—was a “jack-of-all-trades.” He worked ...
“…the courage, the devotion, the adventure of love…all strung on the bright thread of…Romance!”(Post)On the subject of the Golden Age of Radio, one word frequently comes to mind: versatility. Its dramatic shows often presented tales well-calculated to keep you in…Suspense! (If you listened to Bob ...
Happy Birthday, Frank Lovejoy!(Post)The actor fondly remembered by old-time radio fans as the reporter who covered the “night beat” for the fictional Chicago Star was born on this date in 1912. OTR devotees take pride in being able ...
Happy Birthday, Bob Bailey!(Post)Robert Bainter Bailey was born in Toledo, OH on this date in 1913. Though some would argue he never fulfilled his ambition to become a motion picture star, old-time radio fans will trump that card ...
Happy Birthday, David Friedkin!(Post)The birth of one of radio’s most prolific and celebrated writers occurred on this date one hundred and two years ago. David Friedkin, whose ambitions of being an actor-musician (he studied violin ...
Happy Birthday, Jack Kruschen!(Post)Character great Jack Joseph Kruschen was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on this date in 1922. A dues-paying member of the “Hey! It’s That Guy!” show business fraternity, you’ve seen Jack in scores o ...
Happy Birthday, Paul Dubov!(Post)The 1968 feature film comedy With Six You Get Eggroll served as actress-singer Doris Day’s cinematic swan song. Dodo would turn her attention to television after Eggroll’s release, with a success ...